Stephen Dinan

Obama defends campaign financing

Though he opted out of the public financing system in 2008 to run the most expensive presidential campaign in history, President Obama on Tuesday said he opposes House Republicans' effort to do away with the taxpayer-financed system altogether.

January 25, 2011

Ryan’s star rising with Obama rebuttal

Moments after President Obama concludes his State of the Union address from the imposing podium of the House of Representatives on Tuesday night, Rep. Paul D. Ryan will deliver the GOP's answering speech from the House Budget Committee's hearing room, across the street in one of the House office buildings.

January 23, 2011

First lady, Wal-Mart reach pact on nutrition

A day after serving a calorie-laden state dinner to Chinese President Hu Jintao, first lady Michelle Obama announced a deal Thursday with Wal-Mart, the country's largest retailer and grocery store, to reduce sodium, cut prices on fruits and vegetables, and label healthful foods to guide customers.

January 20, 2011

Thorny issues surface in Hu visit

The closely structured pageantry of a state visit was unable to mask simmering issues between the United States and China on Wednesday, as President Obama prodded Chinese President Hu Jintao to revalue the Chinese currency, the yuan, and Mr. Hu acknowledged "a lot still needs to be done" on his country's human rights record.

January 19, 2011

House GOP spoils for Constitution fight

As the House prepares for Wednesday's vote to repeal the Democrats' health care law, Republicans say it marks more than a shot at a controversial Obama policy — they argue it is the first step toward making Congress relevant in debates over the Constitution.

January 18, 2011

House votes to cut down on printing of congressional measures

Citing the hundreds of thousands of wasted pages of government printing each year that go straight from delivery to congressional recycling bins, the House voted Tuesday to tell the Government Printing Office to cut it out.

January 18, 2011

Hutchison says she won’t seek re-election to Senate

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Thursday she won't seek re-election to a fourth full term next year, marking the first retirement of the 2012 election cycle and leaving an open seat Democrats say they'll force Republicans to defend.

January 13, 2011

Senate to reconsider scuttled judicial picks

The Senate will take quick action to try to push through judicial nominees Republicans blocked at the end of last year, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy said Tuesday.

January 11, 2011

Shooting from hip followed Arizona rampage

Saturday's shootings in Tucson, Ariz., have sparked calls for restraining political rhetoric, but some of the most vociferous groups are the same ones already blamed for the harsh climate, and that's raising deep questions about where robust debate ends and incendiary speech begins.

January 10, 2011

Republicans patch over constitutional snafu

Call it a constitutional do-over. Two days after they took control of the House, Republicans on Friday had to clean up the mess left when two of their members failed to properly take the oath of office, even though they had been voting and conducting business as if they had.

January 7, 2011

Constitution read for first time, but not in its entirety

More than 200 years after the first part was written, the Constitution produced standing ovations and strident but respectful debate as lawmakers from both parties read the government's founding document on the House floor in its entirety — or nearly so.

January 6, 2011

GOP faces spending test as debt nears $14.3T ceiling

The Obama administration on Thursday told Congress the government is about to hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and will need authority to borrow more, kicking off the first major test of spending restraint and the strength of Republicans' new congressional power.

January 6, 2011

CBO: Health repeal will increase deficit

Congress's official scorekeeper said Thursday that the House Republicans' first major bill — repealing last year's health care law — would actually increase deficits by about $145 billion over 10 years.

January 6, 2011

Boehner takes reins in House

The 112th Congress gaveled open Wednesday with Republicans taking control of the House and immediately rewriting the chamber's rules, making it easier to cut spending and taxes, harder to add new spending, and more open to voters who want to keep tabs on what lawmakers are doing.

January 5, 2011

House to vote on repeal of health care law

It didn't save them from catastrophic losses at the polls, but Democrats say the nuts-and-bolts benefits already in place thanks to the health care law, such as coverage for young adults and people with pre-existing health conditions, will derail House Republicans' repeal efforts.

January 4, 2011

GOP to scrutinize Obama’s feats

With Congress split this year between Republicans and Democrats, the GOP may not be able to pass much of its repeal agenda, but it still expects to play a major role in shaping government through hearings and investigations into much of what the Obama administration has done.

January 2, 2011

New House rules end official commendations

With little fanfare earlier this month, the House passed a commending resolution recognizing the University of Wisconsin's football team for making it to the Rose Bowl. But if the team wins, it's likely to have to go without a pat on the back from the country's 435 House members — at least as far as official recognition goes.

December 29, 2010

Obama trails Bush on judicial confirmations

President Obama won two Supreme Court nominations in his first Congress, but his overall stamp on the federal judiciary has been muted as fights over judges have taken a lower profile than in recent years.

December 27, 2010

‘We the people’ to open next Congress

The Constitution frequently gets lip service in Congress, but House Republicans next year will make sure it gets a lot more than that - the new rules the incoming majority party proposed this week call for a full reading of the country's founding document on the floor of the House on Jan. 6.

December 23, 2010

Obama signs bill to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’

Breaking a new barrier in gay rights, President Obama signed a bill Wednesday that sets in motion a repeal of the military's ban on openly gay troops.

December 22, 2010